By Bill Parry
The borough’s only dispensary of medical marijuana is set to launch home delivery.
Vireo Health New York, which opened The Queens Patient Center at 89-55 Queens Blvd. in Elmhurst last January, announced Monday it received approval from the state Department of Health to deliver to home-bound patients. The medical marijuana home delivery program was designed by a team of security experts, pharmacists and physicians to serve clients with life-threatening and debilitating diseases, like cancer and ALS.
“New Yorkers have increasingly come to expect home delivery and we plan on leveraging ‘last mile’ supply chain technologies to meet and exceed patient expectations,” Vireo Health of New York CEO Ari Hoffnung said. “We are grateful to the state’s public health and safety officials for their help making this Compassionate Care Act program a reality.”
The Compassionate Care Act was signed into law in 2014 by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, The deliveries will be handled by at least two employees, and company-owned vehicles will be outfitted with cutting-edge safety features, including GPS tracking.
“Day-in and day-out our goal at Vireo Health of New York is to provide the best possible care and service to our patients,” Vireo Health’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Stephen Dahmer said. “Home delivery will not only help us to improve upon current services, but also expand our reach to those patients who are unable to travel. Our team is excited to provide this service to all of our existing patients, and to have the opportunity to meet new patients in other parts of the state.”
Deliveries are expected to begin within 90 days to patients in an eight-county zone including the five boroughs, Long Island and Westchester.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr
